Second heavy rock helpings
Black Country Communion - 2

On hearing and reviewing Black Country Communion's debut album last year I made the comment it was a “bloody good album.”

One year on and the Supergroup (the more I write or hear that term the more I hate it) of Glenn Hughes, Joe Bonamassa, Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian have used the same musical ingredients to produce second heavy rock helpings.

The band’s debut was a strong release, but they were finding their musical feet to a degree and still working on the chemistry of the unit.
Subsequent live shows helped forge that bond and led to the inevitable conclusion this particular four-piece had more to say on the subject of classic 70’s rock and how it should sound four decades on.

The result is an album that is perhaps not as instantly appealing or accessible as the debut but repeated plays bring out the best of '2,' which is a more complete album – and a heavier one – than it’s predecessor.

It’s now also a more complete band…

In my review of the debut I made special mention of Derek Sherinian, not because of any significant or spectacular keyboard solos or sequences but rather because of the lack of. 
His under-stated role fitted the songs and sound of the first BCC album perfectly, complimenting what was almost a power-trio of Bonamassa-Hughes-Bonham.
On '2' however, the sound has been expanded and/ or songs arranged to feature Sherinian more prominently.

'2' may come from the same musical source as the debut, but this is an extension of that original BCC sound, not a same-again sequel.

The album opens with ‘The Outsider,’ which thunders “out the gate rockin’” to quote Glenn Hughes from the liner notes.
Like the opener ‘Black Country’ from one year before, it makes a statement of heavy rock intent with its weight and tone – for what you are about to receive may your ‘70s rock gods help you.

Prior to the album's release ‘The Outsider’ was made available as a free digital download via the band's website. It made for a great introduction to the roles the four noted musicians most commonly play within Black Country Communion...

Glenn Hughes delivers the lyric in his inimitable style but without, thankfully, ever going all Mariah Carey on us (a trait he has been guilty of on many a live show and some of his more soul-based solo albums) and with a spikier rock edge that suits the material. 

Jason Bonham would make his late father proud with powerful, driving drum work that dominates the rhythm - to such a degree that Hughes’ under-rated four-string work is more commonly heard throughout the album beefing up the riffs.
All part of that big Black Country sound.

Joe Bonamassa throws out a gritty rock riff in place of his more traditional blues influenced shapes and his quick-fire solos sets an early tone for the album, with the run on his Crybaby Wah pedal reminiscent of Uriah Heep’s Mick Box trademark sound and style.

The Heep reference is all the more fitting as Derek Sherinian responds to Bonamassa's solos with some classic Hammond B3 replies, reminding this listener of the classic 'eavy and 'umble Heep days that featured chief organ grinder Ken Hensley.

Other influences such as Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Free (and even a little early-70’s Rolling Stones) are evident, but the difference here is we’re not talking retro-rock where the songs are re-imagined or re-written to sound like songs we think we’ve heard before. Rather those influences are used as the template for a ballsy rock album for the Millennium.

'Man in the Middle' has a big bruising sound, relentless riff and Led Zeppelin-esqe chorus, while ‘Save Me’ is one of the more powerful tracks on the album.
It features a great Hughes vocal with Bonamassa filling the space created in the latter half of the song with some tasty six-string shapes.

'Save Me' also carries some Zep-influenced sound, while the guitar lines have an eastern style and feel similar to Ritchie Blackmore in his Rainbow (‘Rising’) days.
But ‘Save Me’ doesn’t sound like any song Zeppelin or Rainbow ever did.
And Glenn Hughes doesn’t sound like Robert Plant. He sounds like Glenn Hughes.

A number of the tracks are pure Black Country Communion and could only be created by the chemistry of this particular four-piece or from their own musical backgrounds.
‘The Battle for Hadrian’s Wall,’ with a Bonamassa lead vocal and acoustic opening would sit comfortably on any of the guitarists solo albums, but here it has been Black Countryfied. And ‘Smokestack Woman’ is strutting BCC copyright heavy rock and roll.

As was the case with the debut release, the second half of the album is stronger than the first. The album starts well enough, but it simply gets better.

‘Faithless’ is one of the best songs Glenn Hughes has written in recent years and would be a great fit for one of his own albums but, again, the Black Country collective has created something more than an individual’s idea or song.

Bonamassa is the featured vocalist on another album highlight ‘Ordinary Son,’ and the acclaimed guitarist shines with his solo’s on ‘Little Secret,’ a blues-based rock number and nice change of pace.

Then there is the sound of ‘2.’
Kevin Shirley has done another solid production job and was very much the fifth member, catching the ‘live’ sound of BCC (especially on the drums) and contributing to the composition of the songs.
     
On the debut my only real complaint was the album was overly long, almost as if the band felt obligated to produce 70+ minutes of music on their first outing.
The real culprit was the twelfth track and closer 'Too Late for the Sun,' which produced an anti-climatic ending due to its 11 minutes and 20 seconds.
And 6 minutes of that was an over-extended studio jam workout. 

This time around it’s a tighter one song less 64 minute production, and ends on a high…

‘Cold’ is another Glenn Hughes song and features a great band performance.
It's darker musicality and lyric work as the perfect closer.
'Cold' has a feel and arrangement that reminds me of an edgier and more intense ‘You Keep on Moving’ (from Hughes’ Deep Purple days), a song that would come to be associated with Hughes and feature in many of his own set-lists.
And that’s not a bad song to be compared to.
   
Glenn Hughes wrote the bulk of the material for ‘2,’ as he did for the debut album.
But these are not Glenn Hughes albums.
Nor is this a Hughes Bonamassa project, backed by Jason Bonham and Derek Sherinian.
This is Black Country Communion.

And this is classic heavy rock.
The way it used to be and the way it should sound now. 

Ross Muir
July 2011


The following audio tracks are presented to accompany the above review and promote the work of the artist/s. No infringement of copyright is intended.

The Outsider 
Cold